Blow to the Head Killed Former Riley Aide

A former aide to Alabama Governor Bob Riley died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to a statement from the Mobile Police Department.

Zoa White, 69, was found dead in her Spring Hill Avenue home on Monday when police responded to a report of a burglary. Officials have said there was evidence of a burglary, but they have declined to say if anything was taken from the home--or if there were signs of forced entry.

In fact, police still are saying little about the case. Reports the Mobile Press-Register:

So far, no arrests have been made, local police said, in the case being investigated as a homicide. More information will be released as it becomes available, authorities said this morning.

According to a written statement from the Mobile Police Department, White's residence is no longer an active crime scene. The autopsy also has been completed, said police spokesman Ronald Wallace. He said no other information about the case was available Thursday morning.

White was close to the governor's office, but she also was close to one of Riley's most outspoken critics, Bill Johnson, former director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). Here's how we put it in an earlier post:

White had worked on Riley's 2006 re-election campaign and served as director of special projects for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).

Bill Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2010 Republican primary for governor, served as director of ADECA under Riley. It's unclear if Johnson and White worked for ADECA at the same time.

Johnson, however, has become one his former boss' harshest critics, raising questions about campaign funds Riley allegedly received from Mississippi gaming interests, funneled through disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In fact, Johnson has said that a federal investigation into gambling-related activity in the Alabama Legislature should focus on Riley and other anti-gaming forces, not just pro-gaming Democrats.

Johnson also has filed a complaint with Alabama Attorney General Troy King, alleging numerous conflicts of interests involving the governor and members of his family.

Johnson received death threats after revealing campaign-funding irregularities regarding Riley.

Sources have told Legal Schnauzer that Johnson was close not only to White but to her family, and he is deeply saddened by her death.